Rutherglen woman played vital role as air raid warden in wartime Glasgow

The volunteers’ duties included fire-watching, staffing the public air raid shelters, providing first aid to injured civilians and rescuing people trapped in the rubble of ruined buildings.

Our recent Times Past feature on the wardens prompted reader Dorothy Connor to get in touch with a fascinating wealth of stories about Rutherglen’s ARP.

“People in Rutherglen had to queue up outside the Town Hall for compulsory registration for war work after the declaration of war,” she told us.

READ MORE: Glasgow records reveal amazing story of city's wartime air raid wardens

“These wartime committees made some daft decisions.

“My uncle Tom Kelly was commandeered as an air raid warden for Victoria Street, where he lived. However, Tom had been deaf and unable to speak since suffering from what was then called black measles (because the spots were dark) which led to his eardrums being removed.

“Therefore, someone else would have had to tell him when the sirens went off and help him to tell everyone else….”

Dorothy adds: “These wardens would patrol the streets looking for any chink in the blackout curtains which would allow even a sliver of light which could act as a marker or target for German bombers.

“Victoria Street was in a very dangerous position being so close to the railway and the river Clyde, both prime bombing targets. It was also near to Dalmarnock Power Station and several buildings in the town suffered bomb damage.”

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Dorothy’s mother, Eileen, worked as a supervisor in Woolworths in the Main Street.

“She worked long hours rolling and cutting huge bales of blackout material which was compulsory for folk to put on their windows,” says Dorothy.

“She also had to take her turn at firewatching - putting out buckets of sand and water and then staying up all night in case an incendiary bomb was dropped.”

She adds: “She was later conscripted into the Fire Service as a telephonist at Rutherglen Telephone Exchange and remembered crews from all over being sent to help fight the fires caused by the Clydebank Blitz. She and her friends from Woolworths went over to Clydebank and gave out tea and blankets and whatever help they could.

“Folk who had lost everything were given temporary shelter with blankets and food in Rutherglen Town Hall.”

Dorothy’s collection of stories about Rutherglen during World War Two are in her book Home Town Tales on sale at Rutherglen Town Hall and Rutherglen Library.

Do Dorothy’s stories spark any memories for you?

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